Tag Archives: North Carolina

MoveOn has launched a #StandWithTarget petition to counter the petition authored earlier this week by the AFA. From the MoveOn petition: “I pledge to support Target and any other business that stands up for transgender rights and accommodates transgender people in their restroom use.” Sign at this link. They’ve gotten 26K signatures already.

Raw Story reports: “I can’t believe we’re even talking about this,” McCrory said, before blaming “the left” for the passage of HB2 by the Republican-dominated state legislature. The law rolled back anti-discrimination statues implemented in Charlotte, and bans trans residents from using public restrooms according to their gender identity. “It’s not just womens’ bathrooms, it’s mens’ bathrooms,” he continued. “In …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: The country’s top LGBT legal organizations urged federal officials on Thursday to make it clear that passing anti-LGBT laws like one in North Carolina will jeopardize their federal education funding. In their letter to White House counsel Neil Eggleston and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the five groups write, “This administration must make definitively clear …

From the Raleigh News & Observer: State Senate Democrats’ proposal to repeal House Bill 2 appears to be dead just a day after it was filed. On Wednesday, senators Terry Van Duyn of Asheville, Jeff Jackson of Charlotte and Mike Woodard of Durham filed Senate Bill 784, which would repeal the controversial LGBT law in its entirety. The bill is …

From the Raleigh News & Observer: Without mentioning North Carolina’s House Bill 2, the NCAA’s Board of Governors on Wednesday adopted a requirement that sites bidding on NCAA events demonstrate they will provide safe environments free of discrimination. “The higher education community is a diverse mix of people from different racial, ethnic, religious and sexual orientation backgrounds,” Kirk Schulz, president …

Billboard reports: The just-announced My2K Tour — featuring a roster of pop stars most famous for their contributions to the charts in a decade when MTV’s TRL ruled the music business — is sure to be a hot ticket for nostalgia-loving audiences. Just not anyone in North Carolina. Originally scheduled for 35 dates, My2K will now stop in only 33 …

From the Washington Post: Stephen Colbert doesn’t like that legislators in North Carolina and elsewhere are legislating which bathrooms transgender people can use. He even called them “weirdos” on Tuesday night’s show. “To all those lawmakers out there who are so obsessed with who’s using what bathroom and what plumbing they’ve got downtown?” Colbert said. “Newsflash: You’re the weirdos.”

The Associated Press reports: Another convention has canceled in North Carolina in protest of the state’s new law limiting anti-discrimination protections for the LGBT community. Local media outlets report the American Institute of Architects will not hold its South Atlantic Region Conference in Wilmington this fall. About 500 architects were expected to attend, and tourism officials estimate the loss at …

The Charlotte Observer reports: With the threat of the NBA pulling its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte in the wake of House Bill 2, Hornets owner Michael Jordan reinforced his franchise’s position against any form of discrimination. “As my organization has stated previously, the Charlotte Hornets and Hornets Sports & Entertainment are opposed to discrimination in any form, and we …

At this writing the American Family Association’s petition to boycott Target has swelled to 750,000 names, making it by far the largest response we’ve seen for a hate group petition. Jealously watching from the sidelines is fellow hater Brian Brown, whose own boycott petitions against Starbucks and General Mills were laughable failures. But Brown isn’t about to miss an opportunity …

Seriously. He said that. From the New York Times:  McCrory, 59, last week could barely contain his irritation that the law had taken center stage in the election, siphoning attention from his central message: that he has been a wise steward of the economy who had engineered what he and his team have branded the “Carolina Comeback.” This hornet’s nest, …

From the Democratic National Committee: “As Republican legislators and governors continue their assault on LGBT Americans through Right to Discriminate laws, even many prominent conservatives think they’ve gone too far. Watch what they and others have to say.”

From the Huffington Post: If state Sen. Buck Newton (R) has his way, North Carolina will be known as the “straight” state. “Go home, tell your friends and family who had to work today what this is all about and how hard we must fight to keep our state straight,” Newton said at a rally Monday, according to video posted …

More than half a million people have already signed the American Family Association’s boycott petition against Target. Despite the still-growing furor, Target is standing firm. From USA Today: “We certainly respect that there are a wide variety of perspectives and opinions,” says Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder. “As a company that firmly stands behind what it means to offer our team …

And the list just keeps getting longer. From Portland’s NBC affiliate: The Portland City Council voted unanimously in favor of restricting travel by city employees to states with laws that discriminate against the LGBT community. All eight councilors had already publicly backed Mayor Ethan Strimling’s proposal before Monday night’s meeting. They don’t want the city spending money for city employees …

From the anti-LGBT group Faith Driven Consumer: Today, amidst growing consumer backlash over Target’s (Faith Equality Index Score 39/100) announcement that it will allow men in women’s bathrooms and changing rooms, Faith Driven Consumer is calling on its community of 41 million who spend $2 trillion annually to engage in a national #BUYcottWalmart effort by choosing Target’s archrival Walmart (FEI …

National Center for Transgender Equality head Mara Keisling and at least several other activists have just been arrested at a sit-in at the North Carolina General Assembly building. I’ve posted several short videos of current reporting via Twitter. See below. The protests were organized by several local and national groups, including the North Carolina NAACP, whose head Rev. William Barber …

GLAAD has their statement: After much thought and deliberation, Nick and I have decided to cancel our shows in Raleigh and Charlotte. One of our goals for the Honda Civic Tour: Future Now has always been to create an atmosphere where every single attendee feels equal, included, and accepted for who they are. North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 law is extremely …

From the American Family Association: North Carolina isn’t the first state that has experienced corporate bullying by companies like PayPal. Indiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi and many others have all experienced corporate bullying in the last year or so. When states attempt to protect religious liberty via legislation, Fortune 500 companies threaten and bully states into submission. Sadly, these companies blindly …

At this writing a growing crowd of about 1000 are protesting in support of North Carolina’s anti-LGBT hate law as Democrats introduce a repeal bill in the state Assembly. LGBT activists led by Equality North Carolina and the Human Rights Campaign started the day by delivering petitions calling for the law’s repeal. Local news video reports are below. Thousands gather …